Motor-vehicle.



No. 645,378. Patented Mar. I3, |900.

W. O. WORTH.

MOTOR VEHICLE.

(Application filed .Tune 9, 1899.)

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MOTOR VEHICLE.

Application led June 9, 1899.)

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MTED STATES v PATENT WILLIAM O. WORTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OFTWO-THIRDS TO WILLIAM R. DONALDSON, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, AND HENRYW; KELLOGG, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

MOTO R-VEH ICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 645,378, dated March13, 1900'; Application filed J'une 9l 1899. Serial No. 719,938. (Nomodel.)

T all whom, it may concern.-

Beit known that I, WILLAM O. VORTH, of

Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Motor-Vehicles; andlherebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which formpart of this specification;

Ie This invention is an improvement in motor-vehicles and vehicle-motorswhich are propelled by means of fluids, such as are described in myLetters Patent No. 607,318, issued July 12, 1898; and the object of theinvention is to enable the wheels of the vehicle, and more particularlythe rear wheels thereof, to be driven uniformly when the ve-4 hicle isgoing straight forward or to allow one wheel to rotate fasteror slowerthan the other, zo as may be necessary in turning curves, withoutstraining the axle or the motor. To do this I have so constructed themotor that it constitutes virtually a compensating drivinggearing, whichwill allow one section of the z5 axle to turn independently of theother, ify

necessary, although, as above stated, the motor will impart a uniformrotation to both sections of the axle if the motor is going directly,`

forward.

3o The subsidiary object of this invention is to do away with thenecessity for compensating beveled gearing, such as is shown in myaforesaid patent on motor-vehicle, and to produce a more compact andefficient construc- 3 5 tion.

The invention also virtually affords an independent motor for each wheelmounted on the axle, said motors being confined in one casing andcontrolled by a single valve mech- The invention is best summarized inthe claims following the description, and without further preface I willproceed to describe the device as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure lis a horizontal longitudinal section throughthe motor and rear axle of avehicle. Fig. 2 is an enlarged verticallongitudinal section on line 2 2,' Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a Fig. 4: is a 5oFig. 5 isa similar section on line 3 3, Fie. 2. similar section on linei 4, Fig. 2. similar section on line 5 5, Fig. 2.

'Ihe motor is constructed substantially as that shown and described inmy application for patent for motor and reversing-valve mech- 5 5 anismtherefor, filed June 9, 1899, Serial No. 719,937, and similar letters ofreference are used herein to designate parts similar to those of themotor shown in said application, so that I refer to the formerapplication for a more 6o full explanation of ,the construction and modeof operation of the motor and valve. Instead of a solid central shaft,however, I use in this case an axle or main shaft which is formed in twosections A5 and A6, which meet in the cen- 65 tral vertical line of themotor, and upon the meeting ends of the sections are keyed large gearsa, which occupy a chamber A within the motor-casing and respectivelymesh with small gear-pistons d' ct, each pair of gear-pis- 7o tonsoccupying diametrically-opposite Working chambers A within the casing.

B C are Huid-chambers respectively above and below the rear gear-pistonsa', and C B' are like duid-chambers respectively qabove and below theforward gear-pistons a a. The chambers B B communicate at the lefthandside of the casing with a passage B2, which opens into the main-valvechamber in the front of the casing through a port D. 8o The chambers C Ccommunicate with a passage C2 at the right-hand side of the casing;which communicates with said valve-chamber through a port d, Fig. 3.Chamber B also communicates at the right-hand side of the casing withanother passage B3, which .communicates with the valve-casing through aport d', and chamber C communicates with a chamber C3 at the left-handside of the casing, which communicates with the valve-chamber 9o througha port D', Fig. 5. The main valve V is a cylinder having a centralimperforate partition V,`that divides the valve into two parts, theleft-hand side communicating with an inlet I and the right-hand sidewith an outlet O. At the inlet end of the valve, in the side wallthereof, is a port n, which is adapted to register with either port D orD',

and at the right-hand end ofthe valve, in the wall thereof, are ports o'and n, respectively, adapted to register with ports CZ and d. For a morefull explanation of this motor and reversing-valve I refer to myapplication aforesaid, wherein this construction of motor and valve iscovered. It will suffice here to state that if the fluid is primarilyadmitted into chambers B B' the gear-pistons a will be rotated in thedirection of the tailless arrows, and consequently will rotate theaxle-sections A5 A6 in the direction indicated by the tailless arrows inFig. 2. On the other hand, if the fluid be primarily admittedintochambers C C the gear-pistons will be driven in the directionindicated by the tailed arrows in Fig. 3, and the axle-sections willconsequently be rotated in the direction indicated by the tailed arrowsin Fig. 2.

The operation maybe, possibly, more readily understood if it beconsidered that the lefthand piston a was omitted and only the onepiston used-t'. e., that at the side next to the valve. In that case itwill be seen that the fluid When the engine is going in the directionindicated by the tailless arrow passes through ports c and D into theleft-hand passage B2, iiows into chamberB',rises,forcingaround piston ainto chamber O,passes to the right-hand side of the casing into thepassage C2, and escapes through ports d and e to the outlet, or

if the valve V be shifted so as to register` ports 'u and D' the iluidpasses first into the left-hand passage C3, then to chamber C, thenfiows down, turning piston a' in the directions indicated by the tailedarrows, enters chamber B', flows to the right end thereof into passageB3, and escapes through ports CZ and v2 into the outlet.

If it is desired to stop the motor at any time, valve E is turned untilports v c2 or e' o' register with by-pass G, when while circulation ofIiuid within the motor proper is stopped circulation of fluid from theinlet I to outlet O can continue uninterruptedly.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be obvious that if the gears ca a wererigidly connected the axle-sections A5 A6 would move as one, andconsequent] y great torsional strain would be put thereon if the vehiclewas being tu rned; but by having gears a a separate and mounted side byside upon the meeting ends of' the axle-sections A5 A6 and meshing themwith the independent loosely-journaled gear-pistons d' d it will beobvious that either axlesection can be rotated independently of theother in turning, and while one gear a and its gear-piston a can slow upthe other gear o: and its gear-piston ct can move more rapidly, andconsequently while one of the gear-pistons a' in each pair can slow upthe other one can go ahead at increased speed, and thus a uniformquantity of fluid can be passed through the working chambers while thevehicle is turning, and the power applied to each axle-section will bejust such as is necessary to speed .it properly. As soon as the vehicleresumes a straight course, however', bothy gear-pistons a' will rotatesynchronously and drive the axle-sections uniformly. This constructionwill, I think, be obvious from the foregoing description and drawings.It practicall y answers all the objects of the compound compensatingbeveled gear shown in my application, Serial No. 652,612, filedSeptember 22, 1897, and numerous other complicated mechanisms which havebeen contrived for use in vehicles to do away with the torsional strainupon axles when turning and render one wheel independent of the other.It will be obvious that in my invention while the axle-sections canrotate independently, as is necessary in turning curves, they will bothbe propelled uniformly when the vehicle is traveling on a straight line,because the pressure of the motive fluid is exactly uniform upon thegear-pistons in each pair.

In order to keep the axle-sections in proper alinement and to supportthe motor thereon, the motorcasing is provided with lateral sleeves K K,which preferably extend out to the hubs of the wheels, so as to excludedust from the working parts of the motor and form substantially-rigidsupports for the axlesections.

It will be understood that in the construction shown the vehicle-wheels7e 7c are fast on the outer ends of the axle-sections A5 A6.

G represents a by-pass by which the fluid may be short-circuited fromthe inlet I to outlet O when the motor is shut off.

The invention is particularly designed for motorvehicles and will beapplied to the rear axle of road-vehicles. It is also useful for streetand railroad cars, and in such case might be applied to both the frontand rear axles.

In practice the axle-sections should bejournaled or fitted in thesleeves in such a manner as to present only as litt-le frictionalbearing-surface as is necessary, and as I propose to employ oil as apropelling fluid it will be obvious that the whole mechanism may bethoroughly lubricated at all times.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is-

l. In a vehicle, the combination of the sectional axle, the similargears keyed on the meeting ends of the axle, and means for driving saidgears by fluid-pressure so as to permit one to move independently of theother in turning, for the purpose and substantially as described.

2. The combination of the sectional shaft or axle, similar gears keyedon the meeting ends thereof, similar independently-movable gear-pistonsmounted in a common Working chamber and meshing with said gears, andmeans for actuating said pistons, for the purpose and substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of a sectional axle or shaft, similar gears on themeeting ends thereof fitted within an annular chamber,

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Masts e similar independently-movable gear-pistons within a commonworking chamber respectively meshing with said gears, and meanssubstantially as described, for actuating said gear-pistons byhuid-pressure, for the purpose and substantially as described.

4. The combination of the motor-casing,the working chambers thereof, thepairs of independently-rotatable gear-pistons in each working chamber,the pair of similar gears located in a chamber intermediate the .workingchambers and meshing with said gearpistons, and the shaft-sectionshaving their inner ends respectively attached to said gears,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination of the motor-casing, the working chambers thereof,the pairs of independently-rotatable gear-pistons in each workingchamber, a pair of similar gears located in a chamber intermediate theworking chambers and meshing with said gear-pistons, and the shaft oraxle sections having their inner ends respectively attached to saidgears; with means for admitting an operative fluid into said workingchambers so as to rotate the gear-pistons therein, for the purpose andsubstantially as described.

6. The combination with a sectional shaft of self-compensatingpropelling mechanism therefor comprising similar gears fixed on themeeting ends of the shaft-sections, and similar gear-pistons meshingwith said gears independently mounted within the same working chamber,whereby one of said gears and gear-pistons may be retarded while theother is accelerated, for the purpose and substantially as described.

7. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of the sectional rear axle; withself-compensating propelling mechanism therefor, comprising similargears xed on the meeting ends of the axle-sections, similar gear-pistonsindependently mounted within the same working chambers and meshing withsaid gears, whereby one of said gears and gear-pistons may be retardedwhile the other is accelerated, in rounding curves, for the purpose andsubstantially as described.

8. The combination of the motorcasing having oppositelaterally-projecting sleeves, and shaft-sections journaled in saidsleeves, the large gears fast on the inner ends of said sections, theworking chambers at opposite sides of said gears, and pairs ofindependent similar gear-pistons mounted in the working chamber; withfluid-chambers above and below each working chamber, and mechanismsubstantially as described, whereby Iiuid may be admitted into one setof chambers and discharged from the others, for the purpose and theshaft or axle sections journaled in said sleeves, the large gears on theinner ends of said sections, the working chambers at opposite sides ofsaid gears, pairs of independent similar gear-pistons mounted in theworking chamber, the duid-chambers above and below each working chamber,the valve-chamber, passages for conducting fluids from saidvalve-chamber to and from each of said fluidchambers, and valvemechanism substantially as described whereby Huid may be admitted intoeither set of chambers and discharged from the other set so as toreverse the motor at the will'of the operator, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

l0. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of the sectional rear axle, andself-compensating propelling mechanism therefor, comprising similargears fixed on the meeting ends of the axles, the similarvkindependently-rotatable gea-r-pistonsmounted within the same workingchamber and meshing with said gears;

with the fluid-chambers above and below the working chamber, the fiuidpassages and valve mechanism whereby the fluid may be directed into onechamber and out of the other, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

l1. In a motor-vehicle, the combination of the sectional rear axle, andself -compensating propelling mechanism therefor, comprising similargears fixed on the meeting ends of the axles, and pairs of similar loosegear-pistons meshing with said gears mounted in Working chambers,whereby in rounding curves, one of said gears and gear-pistons may beretarded while the other is accelerated; with iiuidchambers above andbelow each working chamber, the fluid-passages connecting said chambersand valve mechanism whereby the iuid may be directed into one set ofchambers, or vice versa, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

12. The combination of two independent line-shafts, means for drivingsaid shafts by fluid-pressure so as to permit one to move in dependentlyof the other and whereby equal power is uniformly transmitted to bothshafts at all times.

13. In a motor, the combination of two independent line-sh-afts,Huid-motor for driving said shafts at the meeting end thereof, and meansfor supplying fluid under pressure to said motors whereby equal power isuniformly transmitted to both shafts whether they are moving at equal orvariable speeds.

In testimony that I claim the yforegoing as my own I affix my'signatnrein presence of two witnesses.

B. P. DONNELLY, W. R. DONALDSON.

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